Recently some African cities have been scenes of
high profile eviction campaigns. These campaigns have elicited heavy criticism
from various quarters, domestic and
international. Between half and three quarters
of all new housing in sub-Saharan African cities is built on land that has been
supplied through processes
that, in one way or another, do not comply with formal legal requirements
related to subdivision, transfer and development control. Such urban
development processes are undoubtedly problematic, both for the authorities and for the residents of the areas
developed through these processes: unplanned development results in sprawl,
hindering the cost-effective extension of infrastructure and services; some
developments are built in areas topographically unsuitable for residential use
such as steep slopes and flood-prone sites; unrecognized areas do not
generate revenue for local councils; residents experience varying degrees of
insecurity; access by public transport and emergency services may be difficult
or impossible; and the services and utilities available
to residents may fall far short of what is desirable. However, in many
respects these channels of land supply are highly successful: they continue to
make a much larger contribution to urban development than formal channels, accommodating almost all new low-income
and many middle-income households; many of the residential areas have
regular layouts; there appear to be relatively few conflicts between actors
involved in informal land delivery; and many
house owners enjoy considerable defacto tenure security. Nevertheless, governments continue to regard informal
processes of urban development as undesirable aberrations and persist in
attempts to implement formal tenure,
subdivision and development control policies and procedures despite their
ineffectiveness.
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